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Boston laughed silently, as if it were preposterous to think there was any cause for Benteen’s suspicions in the past or future. “I have an appointment to keep. You will excuse me.” He formally took his leave from them and paused to add, “My best wishes to you both.” The last was really directed at Lorna, a subtle attempt to remain in her good graces and cast doubt in her mind about Benteen’s opinion of him.
A grim, inflexible line ridged his jaw as Benteen watched Judd Boston walk away with the slow, measured stride of a king inspecting his domain. The buggy springs creaked under Lorna’s shifting weight. Benteen glanced sideways, reading the thinly veiled disapproval in her expression.
“You weren’t very courteous, Benteen.”
“His kind doesn’t listen to courtesy.” His reply was abrupt.
Lorna’s mother came out of the store. Benteen moved forward to take a small parcel she was carrying and give her a hand into the buggy. Then he was in the seat beside Lorna, turning the bay gelding toward its home stable.
On his way home to the Ten Bar headquarters that evening, Judd Boston made a rare detour that took him out to the herd of beefs scheduled to take the trail north in two days. There was an additional mission he wanted his trail boss to carry out, after the cattle were delivered to the railhead at Dodge City.
One of the drovers spotted the buggy bouncing across the prairie with its escort of
riders alongside and passed the word to Bull Giles that the boss was on his way. Bull Giles rode out to meet him. Bull came by his nickname honestly. He had the neck, shoulders, and chest of a purebred Durham bull, and a punched-in face. By nature he was as argumentative as a bull on the prod, testy at the best of times. He liked giving orders better than taking them. He had the talent and the know-how to be top man on any ranch, but not the ability to say “yes, sir” to the owner. So he bossed trail herds, which kept enough distance between himself and the owner.
The Ten Bar foreman, Loman Jones, was riding alongside the buggy. Bull Giles had no love for the man, and ignored him to speak directly to Judd Boston.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Boston?” The question was almost a challenge as Bull struggled to sound courteous and respectful.
“Benteen Calder will be pulling out with his herd in a few days.” Judd Boston went directly to the point.
“Yes, and they’ll be tastin’ our dust all the way to Dodge City,” Bull announced.
Boston wasn’t concerned who was first or second on the trail. “Just get those beefs to market with some extra weight on them. It isn’t a race.”
“I know about trailin’ cattle,” Bull asserted.
“You’d better,” he stated. Bull Giles hadn’t been his choice, but Loman Janes insisted he was the best man available. “Calder claims he’s taking his herd all the way to the Montana Territory. I want to know if that’s where he really goes.”
“That’s where he’s headed, all right,” Bull stated. “I talked to Jessie Trumbo yesterday. Barnie Moore’s up there waiting for him with a section of range all staked out.”
“I’ve heard the story.” Boston was impatient with the man’s impertinence. “I want to make sure that’s his intention.”
“You ever been up in that country?” Bull challenged. “I hunted buffalo around the Little Missouri a few years back. It’s grass; nothing but miles and miles of grass.” Bull knew the story behind the takeover of the Cee Bar, and his eyes became sly. “Why would Benteen want to come back here and squabble with you over a little chunk of ground when he can lay claim to a range that would make the Ten Bar look like a pauper’s outfit?”
“Once that herd is delivered in Dodge City, you find out what Calder’s up to,” Boston ordered, and popped the buggy whip to send the team bounding forward.
8
The wedding ceremony itself didn’t seem to take any time at all. There was one moment, just before she walked down the church aisle on her father’s arm, when Lorna wanted to call it off. Then she had seen Benteen standing at the pulpit waiting for her, so handsome in his broadcloth suit. He didn’t look at all nervous. In fact, he appeared so confident and sure that Lorna felt childish for having even a moment’s doubt.
She expected to feel some change inside herself when the minister pronounced them man and wife, that some new maturity would overcome the butterflies in her stomach. But Mrs. Chase Benteen Calder felt the same as Lorna Pearce had. Even with the reverend’s blessing, she blushed when Benteen placed a chaste kiss on her lips. He was her husband now, which gave him certain rights to her that she couldn’t deny him. With his arm constantly around her, holding her and touching her, how could she not think about that?
The marriage ceremony was followed by a reception and a wedding supper at the Pearce home. Benteen had no relatives to invite, and the Pearces had only some elderly cousins living in the area, but there were enough friends on both sides to make up for the lack of family. Alcohol was not part of the refreshments offered by Mrs. Pearce, but some was stashed outside the house. Somebody was always slipping out for a little nip. The conversation and the laughter grew more boisterous with each “little nip.”
“I think it’s time we left,” Benteen murmured close to her ear during a lull between congratulating friends.
“Maybe we should stay a little longer.” Lorna was reluctant to leave the reception just yet. She was the center of attention. She wanted to savor the moment just a while longer because she’d never be a bride again. Also, she was slightly uneasy about being alone with Benteen.
“No.” He was firm, a restlessness showing about his features. “Let the guests keep your parents up until all hours—not us.”
A wife wasn’t supposed to argue with a man’s decision, so Lorna gave in. They weren’t allowed to slip away quietly. The minute the guests realized the bride and groom were leaving, they were showered with rice and occasional phrases of ribald advice.
Since they wouldn’t have a home of their own until they reached Montana, Benteen had reserved a suite at one of the better hotels in Fort Worth. He set the small case Lorna had brought with her inside the room and turned back to see her hovering by the threshold.
“Shall I carry you in?” he asked with a half-smile.
The possessive darkness in his look was a bit more than Lorna’s shaking nerves could handle. She stepped quickly into the room before he could come back to pick her up. Benteen closed the door and Lorna stiffened at the click of the turning lock key.
